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Fallout New Vegas can't seem to run on my main Windows 11 profile.

Nick Roda 0 Reputation points
2026-01-24T09:34:59.2766667+00:00

The problem started when I first tried to open the game. The launcher starts normally, however when I press "Play" nothing happens, the game doesn't start. I've been in contact with Bethesda Support the last couple days and they instructed me to create a new windows profile/user. The game suddenly works but it still doesn't work on my main user.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Gaming

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  1. Solamillo Charity 20,240 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-01-24T23:21:40.8466667+00:00

    That's great news! I see. Windows Program Compatibility Assistant applied a bad compatibility shim to Fallout New Vegas on your main user profile only.

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  2. Nick Roda 0 Reputation points
    2026-01-24T22:37:53.79+00:00

    Nevermind after some digging of my own I found the solution:

    1. Win + R → regedit

    Go to:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers

    If you see FalloutNV.exe or its path → delete that entry

    Also check:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Compatibility Assistant\Persisted

    Delete FalloutNV entries there too.

    Reboot.

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  3. Solamillo Charity 20,240 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-01-24T16:03:31.08+00:00

    May I ask if you are using any mods in Fallout? It's possible that your FalloutNV has a separate profile folder. Have you tried completely uninstalling, then reinstalling the game?

    Let's also check if there are any third party applications that's doing this.

    Press Windows + R, type msconfig, and press Enter.

    In the System Configuration window, go to the Services tab.

    Check Hide all Microsoft services, then click Disable all.

    Go to the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager.

    In Task Manager, disable all startup items.

    Close Task Manager, then click OK in System Configuration.

    Restart your computer.

  4. Solamillo Charity 20,240 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-01-24T10:25:45.9+00:00

    Thank you for the information. This is most likely due to a config file issue. This is similar to other Bethesda games like Skyrim for example.

    Please go to : Documents\My Games\FalloutNV (Please let me know if it's not there)

    Delete everything in that folder (or just delete the whole FalloutNV folder)

    Then, test again.

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